


What May Said

by happyaspie



Series: Tony Stark is a Good Mentor [54]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Avengers Tower, Conversations, Cookies, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Helicopter Mentor Tony Stark, Homework, Light Angst, May Parker (Spider-Man) & Tony Stark Coparenting Peter Parker, Ned Leeds is a Good Bro, Peter Parker is Trying His Best, Peter Parker is a Mess, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Smart May Parker (Spider-Man), Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark is a Good Mentor, Tony Stark is trying his best, Why can't I write short one-shots!?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:14:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25310701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/happyaspie/pseuds/happyaspie
Summary: When May goes out of town for a week to attend her best friend's wedding she allows Peter to remain in New York under Tony's care... but not before giving the man a list of rules to follow.  Peter ends up being less than thrilled by how his time at the tower starts but with time, comes understanding.  ...for both Tony and Peter.-or-Nearly 5,000 words of Tony being an annoying helicopter dad.
Relationships: May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker, May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Tony Stark is a Good Mentor [54]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1397362
Comments: 24
Kudos: 261
Collections: Peter Parker Stories, ellie marvel fics - read





	What May Said

It took less than forty-eight hours for Peter to begin regretting his agreeance to stay with Tony while his aunt was off somewhere in Florida attending her best friend's wedding. Of course, he'd been given the option to come along as her plus one and spend a week at the beach but he'd declined in favor of his vigilantism. He couldn't be Queen's friendly neighborhood Spider-man if he as laying around on the beach for six days. However, bringing up his heroism as the main cause of his reluctance to join, may not have been the best idea. 

"You know, as much as I love and respect your choice to go out and galavant all over the city helping people, I'm not sure I want you doing that without me here," May had said when he'd first brought it up.

"I'd been doing it for months before you ever even found out about it and I was fine," Peter had replied without thought. Once again, realizing too late that maybe that hadn't been the right thing to say.

May marginally agreed with a nod of her head but clearly wasn't anywhere near convinces. "That may be so," she said, -"but now I know and I can't help but worry about you. What if something happens to you while I'm gone? -and who's going to make sure you do your homework before you go out and enforce your curfew?" he asked with mild concern.

"I'll be fine May. It's six days and only three of them are actual school days. I have Monday off," Peter had tried to reason but it was of no use. He could see the wheels in his aunt's head-turning and knew that if he wanted to be able to stay home, he needed to think fast. "If it'll make you feel better, I could stay with Ned," he said with a wave of his hand, hoping that offering to sleepover at his best friend's house would be a good compromise but clearly it wasn't.

With a knowing smile, May had crossed her arms over he chest and shook her head. "No way. If you're going to stay here, I want you _and your alter-ego_ to be under some sort of supervision, and Ms. Leeds had no idea that you're Spider-man." 

Peter resisted the urge to roll his eyes and suggested the only other solution he could come up with. "What if I stay with Mr. Stark? I stay there all the time on the weekends. I'm sure he won't mind. It might even be fun," he'd proposed even though he wasn't actually sure if Tony would mind or not. He didn't actually have any idea how his mentor typically spent his time during the week, though he assumed much of it was dedicated to working in his lab or going to meetings. 

After some thought, it had been decided that staying at the tower would be sufficient and Tony had eagerly agreed. When May had said that she needed to talk to him in order to 'lay down some ground rules' Peter had been somewhat annoyed but not really worried about it. Seeing as he would be expected to be in school while she was gone, he'd gone ahead and assumed that she wanted to talk to him about homework and what time school started and whatnot. Things that, _technically,_ he could handle all by himself but he'd not wanted to argue and end up being forced to accompany her to the wedding.

As the date grew closer, Peter started to become more and more excited about the idea of living with Tony Stark for a week. If the weekends were any indication then it was going to mean, a lot of take-out, goofing off around the penthouse and late nights in the lab. He knew he would still have to go to school and he was definitely planned to patrol regularly but he was looking forward to the change of pace that would be in between. He was sure it was going to be the best week of his life.

__________

It felt like an eternity but eventually, the day came. Peter hugged his aunt on his way out the door and endured what felt like the longest school day in the history of school days, waiting for the last bell to ring. Even then, he couldn't get to the tower fast enough. Public transportation seemed to be taking forever and he wholly regretted not taking Tony up on the offer to have Happy pick him up. However, the moment the bus _finally_ paused at his stop, he went straight up to Tony's private floor, where he was met by the man himself. Though, he was looking decidedly _dismayed_. 

"Is that blood?" Tony asked, never taking his off of where Peter's fingers were just peeking out of his sweater's overly long sleeves. "What happened?"

"Huh?" Peter replied as he followed Tony's gaze towards his right hand and held it up to inspect it. The man wasn't wrong. There was a small amount of blood dried around the tip of his ring finger. He didn' think it was that big of a deal. Especially since it took him several seconds to put together why his finger had been bleeding at all. "-Oh. My nail kept snagging on my sweater so I tried to bite it and it kind of ripped. I'm okay," he explained with a shrug of his shoulders but his mentor looked far from placated.

With a deep sigh, Tony took two long strides towards where Peter was still examining his hand. "You know," he said as he tried to get a better look at the damage himself. "May said for me to make sure that you don't get hurt while you're here. -and what do you do? You walk in, first thing, with blood on your fingers. Did you wash it?" he asked, more as a prompt than an inquiry. Obviously the kid hadn't washed it. 

"Um..." Peter replied with a glint of a smile crossing his face. He wasn't really sure what to make of the dramatics. 

Ignoring the mirthful look he was receiving, Tony took the boy by the shoulder and guided him towards the kitchen sink. "Come on, kid. Let's go get that cleaned up."

Peter followed along, all the way up until the man started pulling the first aid kit out from under the sink. Then he just laughed. "You know, it's probably already healed, right? I just need to wash my hands," he stated but when Tony glared at him, he relented. "Alright, geez. Whatever," he said, holding his hand out so that his mentor could pour peroxide over the practically non-existent injury.

Once he had been released from the kitchen with a bandaid wrapped around the tip of his finger, Peter carried his backpack into his room. As he piled what little bit of homework he had onto his desk he involuntarily shook his head. He wondered what exactly May had said to make Tony react as he had over something so mundane. He was pretty sure that when May had told the man not to let him get hurt, that him picking at his nails had been the least of her concerns. 

The work that he'd been assigned took no time at all and Peter was soon wandering back into the living area, already suited up, ready to grab a snack before taking off. That was the routine that he and May had long since established and he assumed that Tony had been filled in on that. That is until the man he spotted the man staring at him from across the room with a confused look across his face. 

"Are you going out already?" Tony asked as his eyes flicked between Peter and the large clock on the wall. The kid had been there for less than an hour and he wasn't one hundred percent convinced that enough time had passed for any kind of homework to have been completed. Not that he had any idea how long it should take but considering that the boy went to an advanced math and science school, he assumed it would take a while.

"Uh... Yes?" Peter replied, while hurriedly scarfing down a granola bar and a couple of cheese sticks. He couldn't quite sort out where that question was coming from. 

"You did all of your homework already?" Tony asked dubiously. 

Peter nodded his head, wiped the crumbs off of his hands over the sink, and downed a glass of water before answering. "All of it except studying for Spanish but I can do that when I get back," he said as he checked his web-fluid cartridges and started towards the balcony he often leaped from. However, before he could cross the room, his mentor stepped between him and the door with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Nuh-uh. Go back to your room and study," Tony said, gesturing wildly towards the hallway behind the kitchen. "May said I'm supposed to double-check that all of your homework is done before allowing you to go out and it's not, so, go."

For a second, Peter cocked his head to the side in bemusement. He'd not meant to imply that he'd skipped out on some kind of big assignment. He just needed to go over a few things for an upcoming test. "It's just some flashcards, Mr. Stark," he clarified, "I can look at them before I go to bed."

"Nope," Tony said with full authority before nudging the teenager away from the door. "In fact, why don't you go get them? I'll sit down and go over them with you," he added because that seemed like the best way to guarantee that the kid actually got it done. 

With a roll of his eyes, Peter tried to duck out of the hand that was still persistently prodding at his shoulder. "I don't need you to-" he began before deciding that it would be easier to just give in to the situation. It wasn't like there was much to study. Arguing would take up more time than the flashcards would. "- Alright. I'll go get them."

The second Peter out of the building he sighed in relief. Tony had been acting weird since he'd arrived and for the first time ever, he was happy to be outside of his presence for a while. Though given the way afternoon had gone, he half expected the man to call and check up on him at least once while he was but that never happened. He was even more surprised when he climbed back into the penthouse that evening, that the man wasn't sitting there waiting for him.

Assuming that FRIDAY had already told Tony that he was home and without injury, Peter went over to the fridge and warmed up some leftovers. The sandwich he'd bought earlier hadn't stuck with him and he was practically starving. He took his time finishing his plate, cleaned up after himself, and then went to take a shower and change into his pajamas before flopping onto his bed. He'd just finished texting Ned and was just getting into the book that MJ had loaned him when Tony came into the room without so much as a knock.

"Why are you up? It's past eleven and you have school tomorrow," Tony asked from where he'd paused in the doorway. 

"Ten-forty-five is my curfew, not my bedtime, Mr. Stark," Peter gently teased before trying to bring his attention back to his book. 

"I'm pretty sure the whole point of the curfew is to keep you from staying up all night. May said that you're supposed to get a minimum of eight hours of sleep. That means you should be asleep by eleven-thirty," Tony said, already crossing the room with the intention of prying reading material out of the kid's hands. He'd just managed to get his fingers on it when the teenager jerked it out of his reach.

"-Mr. Stark!" Peter squawked, still keeping a tight grip in the book. "I'm _reading._ It's not like I'm playing video games and chugging energy drinks," he complained but his words didn't seem to affect his mentor at all. The man, while no longer trying to get the book out of his sticky hands, was still looking at him with his brows knit together.

Not looking to start a fight but also not wanting to give in so easily, Peter tossed the book onto the bedside table with more force than necessary. "Fine. I'm going to bed," he said and then poignantly rolled over so that his back was to the door. Yet even with all of his irritation, he couldn't stop himself from tacking on a quiet, "Good-night, Mr. Stark," once the man had turned off his lamp for him.

"Good-night, Buddy," Tony softly returned, patting the disgruntles kid gently on the back as he clicked the door closed

Peter went right to sleep and by morning, the previous day's irritation had already been forgotten. He rolled out of bed, went to the kitchen to have some juice, and then popped back into his room to get ready for the day. He realized as he was throwing his clothes on that he still didn't really know what Tony did while he was at school but he assumed that whatever it was didn't require him to be up at seven-thirty in the morning. As such, when he heard his name being called as he ran towards the elevator, he nearly jumped out of his skin. 

"Hey, Pete! Where the fire?" Tony chuckled from the kitchen. When his early alarm had done off, he'd considered not getting up to see the kid off but now he was glad he had. Apparently the boy was planning on bolting out the door without eating any breakfast and he wasn't about to let that happen. "Get back over here and eat something"

"I had some juice when I got up, Mr. Stark, and I'm going to buy some doughnuts on the way to school," Peter said with a smile. He appreciated that his mentor wanted to make sure that he was eating but he already had that covered. The plan was to grab something from the corner store so there would be time to meet up with Ned before class. They had a lot to talk about.

"Doughnuts aren't exactly a healthy breakfast, kiddo," Tony said with a smile. He knew it was a little hypocritical considering he only planned on having a few cups of coffee to start the day but the kid didn't need to know that. "I bought some yogurt and there's a whole bowl of fruit here on the counter. How about some of that instead?"

"You made me chocolate chip waffles for breakfast just last Saturday," Peter blandly returned, though he was quick to note that his mentor looked completely unimpressed by his assessment.

"Yeah, but this is a school day and May said that I needed to make sure you were eating things with actual nutritional value while you were here," Tony returned without missing a beat. 

"Well, the good news is that I have an enhanced metabolism. I make sure to double up on the veggies at lunch," Peter replied before turning his back to leave. "Bye, Mr.-" he began but was interrupted when banana hit him right smack in the back of his head. "Hey! What was that for?" he called out over his shoulder with a glare.

Rather than answering the question, Tony pointed towards the fruit that was still laying on the floor at the kid's feet and gritted his teeth. "Eat the banana and then you can go," he hissed. All he wanted the kid to do was to eat something of substance before he left and the boy was being difficult. It was annoying and he suddenly wondered if that was what Rhodey felt like every time he had to drag him away from his books, to the campus cafeteria while they were at MIT. He made a mental note to, sort of, apologize for that at some point. Then his thoughts were interrupted by the kid shouting at him.

"You can just throw food at me and think that-" Peter started to growl, still rubbing the back of his head where the fruit had struck him. It hadn't hurt so much as he was trying to make a point. Although that point was tossed to the side the moment Tony picked up an apple and it looked like he was about to throw that at him too. "-Okay, okay. I get it. I'll eat the stupid banana. Are you happy now?" he asked, as he aggressively tugged at the peel and took a bite. 

"Yes. Very," Tony said with an approving nod of his head. Then he smiled sweetly and told the kid to have a good day before disappearing down the hall with a mug of coffee in his hands. 

After that, going to school almost seemed like a blessing. He still managed to get there early and sat on the steps sharing his hurridly purchased doughnuts with his best friend while he ranted about the previous twenty-four hours. "It's crazy! _He's crazy._ I'm telling you, Ned, he worse than May. It's _weird_ ," he grumbled while Ned smiled back at him. "-and It's not funny."

"It kind of is," Ned replied as he pulled the last sugary pastry out of the bag and broke it in two. "He's acting like your dad and, I'm sorry, but that's _hilariou_ s," he elaborated with a grin, offering his friend, the slightly larger half. 

While Ned was willing to laugh it all off, Peter wasn't. He'd been expecting to have an easy-going care-free week, out from under May's watchful eye. Tony taking over her role with such vigor had been unexpected but he tried to stay optimistic, hoping that by the time he got back to the tower, the man would be back to his usual laidback, if not slightly sarcastic self. 

Except it _would not_ work out that way. He left school in a generally good mood, followed Ned home so that they could exchange some quick notes and then caught the next bus to Manhattan. Upon his arrival, he took the elevator straight to the penthouse to get started on his homework and was met at the door by his mentor who looked five kinds of frazzled. "Uh... is everything okay, Mr. Stark?" he asked, wondering what could have possibly happened to make the man appear as though he'd been trying to pull his hair out. 

"Where have you been! I've been looking all over for you!" Tony barked in return, while simultaneously pulling Peter into a nearly strangling hug. 

"I went to Ned's house after school for a few minutes," Peter replied while rapidly tapping the man's arm in an attempt to get him to let up. Once he'd been released, he took an overly dramatic breath and shook his backpack and jacket off onto the floor. "We're doing a history project together and I needed to get his notes so I can start my part of it."

"-And you didn't think to tell me that you were going to be late?" Tony questioned in a tone that was somewhere between relieved and mildly annoyed. He knew the day hadn't exactly started out on the right foot and had been a little worried that the kid had decided to not come back. He'd spent the last ten minutes wondering how he was supposed to explain that to May without her climbing through the phone to strangle him. He was sure if anyone could do that, it would be her.

"Honestly?" Peter replied with a defeated sigh, "No, because it's not that big of a deal, Mr. Stark. I'm only twenty-five minutes later than I was yesterday," he said because it wasn't. He could understand the man being upset if he'd walked in an hour later than expected but twenty-five minutes? That was nothing. Especially when you thought about how bad New York traffic could get at times. 

"I was worried, Pete!" Tony strained. "May said for me to make sure that you get to and from school every day and you couldn't be bothered to let me know that you would be late?" he asked, gesturing towards the kid's backpack. "You have a phone, you know."

That was it. That was all Peter could take before he finally snapped. "Would you stop it! I'm sorry I didn't call you or something but you're acting all crazy over nothing. Even May wouldn't freak out over less than half an hour and it's not like _you called me either_!" he shouted, instantly regretting it when his mentor raised an eyebrow at the volume. 

"No," Tony replied with less aggravation than he was feeling. Some of it towards himself. He knew Peter was right, he probably should have tried to call before anything else but he'd automatically assumed that the kid had jumped straight into the spider-suit rather than returning home. When he'd not gotten a location he'd worried that the tracker had been removed again and had been solely focused on that. "I was too busy checking the suit to make sure you didn't sneak off early, May said-"

"-Oh my god! Enough of what May said! Just stop it. You're not _actually_ in charge of me and I don't need you micromanaging everything I do!" Peter pressed, turning around the moment he'd said his piece to stomp off towards his room. 

The room quickly grew quiet and Tony was suddenly ambushed by a mixture of hurt and remorse. It hadn't been his intention to make the kid feel like he was being excessively authoritative. He'd just been trying to do the right thing. May had adamantly drilled it into his head that Peter staying for the week was very different than him staying for the weekend and had made him swear to keep tabs on the teenager's safety and well being for the duration of her absence. She'd said, she trusted him and he'd not wanted to mess that up. Though it seemed he'd messed up anyway, just not in the way he'd expected. 

With a deep sigh, Tony ran his hands down his face and dropped down onto the couch. He considered calling May and asking her what he was supposed to do but decided against it. He figured that since he'd dug himself into the hole, that he could dig himself out. Starting with an apology. Though, he opted to give the kid a little while to cool off first. Just enough time for him to throw some premade cookie dough into the oven, pour a glass of milk and place it all onto a tray.

With everything balanced, on one hand, Tony knocked lightly on the kid's door. When he was given the okay to enter, he tentatively stepped in. "A cookie for your thoughts?" he asked as he placed the tray onto the corner of the boy's desk that didn't have homework strew across it. 

Rather than accepting or even declining the way, gooey offering, Peter dropped his pencil and sighed. "I'm sorry, Mr. Stark. It's just that, that-" he said, pausing briefly to collect his thoughts, "-Usually when I come over here it's fun but this time it's been different and I hate it," he finished, chacing only one small glance Tony's direction. He wasn't trying to sound ungrateful. He just needed the man to understand why he was so frustrated. 

Tony chuckled a little at the kid's hesitation. "Yeah, well, If it makes you feel any better, this hasn't exactly been thrilling for me either," he said with a long sigh, "-but this is the first time your aunt has said that she actually trusted me with you and I didn't want to screw it up," he added before allowing his frown to morph back into a mirthful smirk. "She's scary when she's mad."

Peter laughed because he couldn't disagree with that. May was a little scary when she was mad. "Yeah, she is," he agreed with a nod of his head. "It's just that she gave you all of these rules and stuff but she's not even that strict about them. I mean, she is, she just doesn't get _all crazy_ over them. Like, she lets me stay up and read in my bed and she doesn't freak out if I don't come straight home from school," he said.

"I guess I can understand that, Kiddo," Tony said, grabbing Peter's shoulder so that he could spin him around in the swivel chair that he was seated in. Once he had the boy's attention on him he smiled. "I didn't mean to stress you out I was just wanted to prove to your aunt that I could do this and I don't even know why," he continued with a roll of his eyes. At that point, he really wasn't sure what he'd been thinking. "You're right. I was being over the top."

"Maybe just a little," Peter replied with a small half-smile.

Tony chuckled, Patted, the teenager on the knee, and handed him a cookie. "I think we should probably talk about all of this. You can tell me where I went _all crazy_ so that the rest of the week can go by a bit more smoothly. What do you say?" he asked with a gentle smile. He wasn't sure why he'd not done that in the first place. Peter was a good kid. He should have known that the boy didn't need anyone breathing down his neck for him to do the right things. He wondered if May's insistnace had been about ensuring that _he would behave_ , more so than Peter. Now that he thought about it, everything she'd said could probably be transalated to, _'Don't hide in your lab, have something besides pizza in your freezer, don't keep him up at all hours and don't you dare encourage him to skip school,'_ he thought to himself with a roll of his eyes.

"Sure," Peter replied. He was more than willing to have that discussion. Especially if it meant things could go back to something a bit more 'normal.'

"Great." Tony said with a clap of his hands. "Why don't you go ahead and finish up your homework and maybe hang out here for the afternoon. I can order some Thai food for an early dinner if you'd like, and then you can go swing around the city for a little while after."

Peter grinned and squinted his eyes into a playful glare. "That depends. Are you going to throw a banana at my head if I eat around some of the vegetables?" he asked, working hard to hold back the laugh that was threatening to escape him.

"Nah, I'll throw a carrot at your head instead," Tony instantly replied. "The bananas are for breakfast."

"Mr. Stark!" Peter dramatically whined, breaking into a laugh at the end. Things already seemed better. Tony had admitted that he'd been being a little overbearing and that was enough to allow himself to relax again. 

With a smile, Tony sighed in relief. He'd not realized how much he loved and had been missing the sound of Peter's laugh until that very minute. "Oh, stop with the whining and finish your homework," he teased as he gently swatted at the boy's thigh. Then just before he got up from where he'd settled himself on the edge of the bed, he glanced towards the work piled up on the desk. "Do you need any help with anything before I go?"

Peter opened his mouth to say that he had it under control but he stopped himself before he could get the words out. Ned's comment about the man acting like his dad was suddenly hitting him pretty hard. He could see that now and it made him smile a little. "I guess you could help me study for my Spanish test if you want to, Mr. Stark," he said, as he casually took another cookie off of the tray. 

"I'd love to, Pete," Tony replied and accepted the stack of cards being handed to him. "Eres mi pequeña araña," he said with a soft smile.

Peter offered his mentor one of the many cookies that were still sitting between them and smiled back. "I'm pretty sure that's not going to be on the test but, sure. Soy tu pequeña araña," he said and from there, the remainder of his time there went without incident. As long as you didn't count the mild argument that took place the following evening when Peter called Raiders of the Lost Arc 'a really old movie.'

" Peter Benjamin Parker, I swear to god, that's it. Go to your room and don't come out. I'm watching this by myself."

**Author's Note:**

> The Spanish in this may not be completely accurate but I tried using several translators websites and then went with the most common responses.
> 
> Eres mi pequeño araña = You're my little spider
> 
> Soy tu pequeño araña = I'm your little spider
> 
> If it's like, Waaaay off, feel free to correct me in the comments. 😬😂


End file.
